New Member2.

NULL

I understand the mechanics of draft increase when it's a little colder. I had noticed a bit better draft in previous years when it was bonechilling cold outside.
Now that I have the SS flex liner installed. my draft is crazy strong. Last week when it dipped into the 40's and I had 2 nights of fire the draft was nice and strong.
Right now it's in the mid to upper 30's. Last night when we got home it was 40 degrees. The draft was so strong I was afraid I would overfire the stove. I dampered it down......WAY down .....all the way down and the flames inside were still pulling stong. Draft was still pulling that air thru.
I am going to have to redo the gasket on my ash door. this was never a problem before. A little extra air didn't bother me at all. Also last year the switch that controls my auxiliary draft fan went bad and the fan stayed on. Again....an annoyance but not really a problem. I got up this morning at 5 am(yeah don't ask why I would do that). Came down and there was a nice bed of coals. opened her up a bit, filled the firebox and she was burning again in no time. I decided to do something about that draft fan. I pulled off the access plate, unplugged the stove and disconnected the draft fan. (it was filthy and covered by dust in there). This seems to have chilled out the draft a little bit....but I would only say a little bit. I still have it dampered to about half and the front temp on the stove is around 450.

I detailed the rebuilding of my stove last year when I pulled the catalyst assembly out and used large gasket ropes to seal it properly and compensate for the bowing in the cast iron on the assembly. I think that this year I am going to have to bite the bullet and order a new assembly from the manufacturer. Kind of like having an old model T that chugs along. It gets you where you want to go and seat belts aren't really needed. But turn it into a modern highway sedan and you need to buckle up.

Member2.

NULL

I have the same. My insert starts without kindling. I crumple 5 or 6 pages of newspaper into a ball, put the wood on top of it, light the newspaper and close the stove's door without latching it. It is like a blowtorch the way the newspaper starts the wood burning. After 10-15 minutes with the door open I latch the door closed and thats it. I feel fortunate that my stove is easy to get going. The SS liner makes alot of difference I think.

Member2.

NULL

I split my rounds into 1/4, not the usual 1/2 that most do. I find this easier to dry,handle,and fill the firebox with. I am burning wood now that is about 6 months old. I get full sun where it dries so it is nice and checked on the ends. I used to use fatwood and i tried to light a fire once without it, using just newspaper, and it burned fine. Im sure if I split into 1/2 only, I would require kindling.

Minister of Fire2.

NULL

I added 2 extra ft. to my stainless double wall exposed outside pipe..............tonight I opened the door to make a fire kind of late, 40s outside I guess.

I was filling the stove with kindling when I felt a rush of cold air on my arm coming down the pipe from outside, I said to myself, that is a strong reverse pipe draft.

I lit the news papers and out poured the white smoke out of the slightly open door, I shut the door quickly figuring it would push that cold out, it then started pushing smoke out my bottom open damper............... :ahhh:

I then got my wifes hair dryer rather quickly and opened the door and stuck the hair dryer up into my stove pipe and turned it on high.

I then lit the news paper again while the dryer was running................the draft then became so strong it jerked the hair dryer out of my hand and sucked it up the pipe........good thing I had it plugged in or I would have lost it up the pipe for sure.

No, thats not what happened at all............. but the hair dryer did reverse the pull and instantly cure the problem of the cold pipe.

Feeling the Heat2.

NULL

We get strong down drafts here--our house is right up against a butte and our 'cove' is surrounded on 3 sides by buttes. We're getting a "monsoon" fitting that should take care of it according to our Country Stove dealer.

We've had smoke problems for awhile and found out that the way my husband and his brother installed the pipe was wrong. They put the elbow coming out of the stove top instead of at the ceiling. I also don't think the chimney pipe is above the roof enough. All this will be fixed next week. Until then, no more fires.